War time Santa Claus letter a glimpse into holidays past

Letter from Santa

Dominik Wisniewski / The Independent

BRIGHTON -- A letter from Santa Claus dating back to 1914 was recently uncovered by Dianne Brooks. The letter was addressed to her late aunt Velma Johns who lived in Toronto and was eight years old at the time. December 14, 2012.

1914 letter from Santa uncovered in Brighton

Dominik Wisniewski / The Indepen

BRIGHTON -- The discovery of a letter from Santa Claus dating back nearly 100 years was a pleasant surprise for Dianne Brooks, who plans to share it with her family this holiday season. Ms. Brooks discovered the letter last summer while going through her late Aunt Velma Johns' belongings, safely tucked in between important documents. December 14, 2012.

The surprise on Dianne Brooks's face when she uncovered a letter from Santa dating back nearly a century must have been similar to the expression her aunt had when she received it at the age of eight.

After discovering the letter among documents that belonged to her aunt, Velma Johns (Robbins at the time), Dianne and her husband, Harold, didn't think much of it until the holidays rolled around.

"We figured that this was during the first world war since she was born in 1906. She was about eight when she received this, so that would make this about 1914," Ms. Brooks said, quoting part of the letter. "'So many daddies are away from home this year that I have to be a regular daddy to heaps and heaps of children.'"

Nearly 100 years later, Ms. Brooks said, some children are still spending Christmas with one or both their parents away serving their country.

"It's almost 100 years later and we still have Santa being there for kids with no daddy or mommy due to war," she added.

The letter, with a matching envelope, wasn't uncovered until this year, 15 years after the death of her aunt, but Ms. Brooks says it's better late than never.

"As we're getting older we thought, we should start going through this stuff because if you don't put the names on the back of family pictures, somebody will get rid of them," she said. "Then we found this and thought how great it was because it says Ms. Velma."

With only her aunt's first name and the word "city" marked down for Toronto, the letter is a glimpse into a distant past.

"They didn't have to put the last name on it because in those days the mailman knew everybody," Ms. Brooks said. "We thought it was so neat because, as big as Toronto was, this got through to a little girl."

While figuring out who the letter was addressed to was easy enough -- since her aunt and her husband, David, never had children of their own -- the only mystery left to solve is why there are 10 reindeer on that same envelope when there should only be nine.

"She never had any children so a letter from Santa was special to her," Ms. Brooks said. "We're going to frame it and make copies for our kids, so that they can have it in their homes."

Velma Johns lived in Toronto as a child, moved to Madoc after getting married and in 1997 died in Belleville at the age of 97.

Dominik Wisniewski is a photographer/reporter for the Northumberland News.